


Sunshine Heart

by arysa13



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Journalist Betty, Music, Post-Canon, Reunions, musician archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-12 23:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12971064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arysa13/pseuds/arysa13
Summary: After high school, Betty becomes a journalist in NYC. Her editor asks her to interview up-and-coming star Archie Andrews, whom she hasn’t seen since high school.





	Sunshine Heart

**Author's Note:**

> lol when you think you're going to write a short fic and it ends up being 10k words whoops

Betty stares at her computer screen blankly, the curser blinking at the top of the page, taunting her. The glowing light from the screen is the only illumination in her dark bedroom, the blinds having been closed hours ago. Her eyes flick down to the bottom right corner. 3:08am. She’s got six hours to write this article and send it to her editor. Never has she been so stuck for words.

This bout of writer’s block may be the worst she’s had since she started working for Dainty magazine, but it’s certainly not the first. The problem isn’t the magazine, she knows that. Dainty may not be the most prestigious magazine in New York, but it isn’t the trashiest by far. It’s a respected magazine, mostly about entertainment, and Betty knows she’s lucky to even have a job there as a full-time writer at the age of twenty-six. She could have just as easily ended up with some degrading unpaid internship or at some gossip rag that could hardly even be called real reporting. Still, it’s not exactly the hard-hitting journalism she’d dreamed about writing back when she was still writing for the Blue and Gold. Riverdale had spoiled her with its constant stream of intrigue and mystery. Maybe she should have become a detective after all.

Betty pulls out her ponytail and fluffs her blonde hair, only to pull it back again a few seconds later. She tentatively taps out a temporary title to get her started. It’s a review of a not-so-epic new series on Netflix that she definitely could have done without watching. She doesn’t exactly get given the big stories. Probably no one will even read this review. With this in mind, she tiredly begins to type, hoping the sentences she’s stringing together will make sense in the morning.

After a brief two hours sleep, Betty rereads the piece she’s written, and deciding it’s comprehensible enough, she emails it to her boss before heading off to work herself.

There’s a meeting at ten to discuss the next month’s issue, and Betty plans to spend the hour before the meeting working on her ideas that she wants to present. She does it every month, despite the fact that she rarely gets to share them, and if she happens to get a chance to, they’re usually ignored. But she’s always been persistent.

She’s in the middle of rewriting an outline for a piece she really wants to write, when a co-worker sticks her head over Betty’s cubicle.

“Griselda wants to see you,” Maria says in a sing-song voice. Betty’s stomach drops. This can’t be good. Had her review really been that bad? She sincerely hopes she isn’t about to get fired.

“Thanks, Maria,” Betty says politely, despite Maria’s obvious glee about Betty presumably being in trouble. Maria just raises her eyebrows as she makes her way back to her own cubicle.

Betty takes a deep breath before slipping out of her cubicle and making the journey down the lengthy hallway to Griselda Broadbent’s office. She tries to make eye contact with anyone as she walks, in case she really is about to get fired. She doesn’t want their pitying looks.

“Griselda wanted to see me?” Betty says to her boss’s personal assistant, who appears to be painting her nails at her desk. Surely if this woman hasn’t been fired, Betty isn’t about to be?

“Yeah, go in,” Haley says. “She’s waiting for you.”

Betty tentatively pokes her head through the door.

“Come in, Betty,” Griselda says without looking up from her computer. “Take a seat.”

Betty does as she’s told, staying silent until she’s let in on the reason she’s here. Griselda continues working for a few minutes while Betty sits there anxiously, waiting for her boss to say something. Finally, Griselda looks up from her computer and clasps her hands, her stare boring into Betty sharply.

“Betty,” Griselda says. “How are you finding your work here? Are you satisfied?”

Betty swallows, thinking how best to answer this without coming off as rude or ungrateful.

“I’m very happy here,” she says carefully. “But I’m always looking for more challenging work so I can grow and improve as a writer.”

Griselda smirks. “Good answer.” She taps her computer screen. “This review was… meh,” she shrugs.

“Meh?” Betty gulps.

“Bland.”

“The show was bland too,” Betty bites back. Griselda stares at her for a moment before chuckling.

“I wouldn’t know, I didn’t watch it.”

“Trust me,” Betty says seriously. Griselda considers her for a moment.

“I have an assignment for you this month,” Griselda says. “Something a bit different to normal.”

“Oh?”

“How much do you know about music?”

“I know a bit,” Betty says. Truth be told, she doesn’t really listen to much new music, preferring old pop songs to the top forty, and she doesn’t think she could name one single song that’s popular right now. But it wouldn’t be hard to find out.

“There’s an up-and-coming artist that everyone’s talking about, and he’s agreed to give us an interview,” Griselda tells her.

“You want me to interview him?” Betty says incredulously. It sounds like kind of an important article. This could be the step up she’s been waiting for. Griselda nods. “Why?”

It’s then that Betty gets a terrible sense or foreboding, as Griselda smiles at her. But it’s not a nice, kind smile. It’s a knowing smile, that goes all the way to her eyebrows, and Betty can’t help but be sceptical. Perhaps this musician is a huge diva or something?

“I’m just giving you a chance to write something bigger. This is going to be the feature story, so I want it to be good,” Griselda says.

“Okay,” Betty says suspiciously. She doesn’t even have the capacity to be nervous about what a big deal this is, she’s too busy wondering what the hell Griselda is up to. “Who’s the artist?”

“Have you heard the song _Sunshine Heart_?” Griselda asks. Betty shakes her head. “Look it up after the meeting.”

“You can’t just tell me who it is?” Betty says, a little exasperatedly.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Griselda grins.

“Can you at least tell me if it’s someone I will have heard of?”

“Oh, trust me,” Griselda smiles wickedly. “You’ve heard of him.”

-

Griselda announces at the meeting that Betty will be writing a feature article, and everyone politely congratulates her, but still no one tells her _who_ she’s actually interviewing, so she’s beginning to think it’s someone really awful. Maybe Griselda wants her to fail.

Betty makes it back to her desk and poises her fingers above the keyboard, taking a deep breath before typing _Sunshine Heart_ into Google, holding her breath, terrified of what she’ll find. She has to be prepared for the worst.

Only, nothing could have prepared her for this.

The first result is a music video, and one could forgive her if for a second she thinks the guy in the thumbnail, facing slightly away from the camera, is Archie Andrews. Mainly because, when she looks at the title and artist, it _is_ Archie Andrews. Her mouth goes dry, her stomach does a somersault.

Archie Andrews. She hasn’t seen him since the summer before they went to college. Eight years. They’d promised to keep in touch, but, well, some things just don’t work out as planned.

Betty slips her headphones on and clicks play on the video. She doesn’t watch it though, just closes her eyes and listens, Archie’s familiar, soothing voice singing to her, and it’s almost like he’s singing just for her, like it used to feel like.

It’s a nice song, a love song, presumably written by Archie himself. He sounds even better than he used to, and Betty lets herself melt into his voice. She’s recognise this voice anywhere, even after all this time.

She opens her eyes as the last notes of the song fade out, and it’s almost a shock to her that she’s sitting in her office and not in Archie’s room back home in Riverdale. She sits for a moment, letting herself fall back into reality, and then she apprehensively types _Archie Andrews_ into Google.

It’s mostly about the song, and from the looks of it he hasn’t released anything else yet. She clicks on his Twitter page. His Twitter icon is him posing with a guitar, looking serious, presumably from a recent photo shoot. From the looks of his most recent tweets he doesn’t share much about his personal life, but he’s advertising a show a week from now, somewhere in the city.

Betty goes back to the music video, and listens again, watching the video this time. Her stomach lurches at his familiar smile. How could she have let them drift so far apart?

It’s not like she’s never thought about Archie until now. They were best friends once, and she’d been hopelessly in love with him for a moment there. They always said they’d go to New York together after high school, along with Veronica and Jughead, and back then it had seemed so simple. But Ronnie and Archie broke up, and though they were both mature about it, they just weren’t quite friends like they used to be. When their senior year was over, Archie stayed in Riverdale to earn save some money, and Jughead stayed too, while Veronica took a trip to Europe, and Betty moved to New York alone.

Long distance doesn’t often work out for young lovers, and neither did it work out for Betty and Jughead. She’s not bitter about it, and she doesn’t think Jughead is either, but she rarely sees him anymore. She still sees Veronica regularly now, after her European jaunt she moved back to New York, into a crappy little apartment with Betty.

Betty still lives in said crappy apartment, alone now, as Veronica moved out and lives with her boyfriend now.

But Archie… they’d message each other occasionally for the first year, always promising they’d see each other soon. But then Archie moved to LA instead of New York, and maybe he changed his number, not that she would know as she hasn’t tried to use it in years now. He stopped replying and deleted his Facebook account, and she finally stopped trying. She often wonders (though less and less now) if she did something to upset him. Now she wonders if maybe he knew his career was about to take off and he wanted to cut old ties and start fresh. She doesn’t think she could totally blame him for that.

And now he’s laughing on her computer screen, singing about the rush of being in love, some random actress posing as his girlfriend. For a moment Betty is tempted to type _Archie Andrews girlfriend_ into Google, just to see what comes up, but she restrains herself. She doesn’t want to know _everything_ about his life before she interviews him, or she’ll have nothing to ask him.

Shit. She has to interview him. She has to _see_ him. She thinks it makes it weirder that it’s in a professional setting and not a personal one. She has to assume he knows she’s the one interviewing him. Maybe that’s why he’s agreed to the interview in the first place, despite the fact that _Dainty_ isn’t the most well-known magazine. Griselda sure as hell knows they know each other, or she wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of not telling her who she’s interviewing. Her boss must think this whole thing is _so_ hilarious. She wonders how much Griselda actually knows about her relationship with Archie, or whether she just assumes they know each other since they’re from the same small town.

Betty stops her internet searching before she gets in too deep, and strides back down the hallway to Griselda’s office.

“Is Griselda busy?” she asks the assistant. Haley presses the intercom button.

“Betty wants to see you.”

“ _Send her in_ ,” comes Griselda’s voice through the intercom. Betty pushes the office door open.

“Archie Andrews?” Betty huffs, hands on her hips. Griselda grins.

“Surprise!”

“Is this some kind of cruel joke?” Betty snaps. She’s not sure why she’s suddenly so angry, only that Griselda is treating her life like it’s some kind of funny game.

“What’s the matter? I thought you’d be happy! A big story about a boy you used to go to school with,” Griselda explains, and Betty knows she’s being ungrateful. “Or was he your mortal enemy in high school?”

“Enemy?” Betty shakes her head, softening. “God no. He was my best friend.”

“Ah,” Griselda says knowingly. “I get it. You’re still in love with him.”

“What?” Betty sputters. “What makes you think I was _ever_ in love with him, let alone _still_ in love with him?”

“Honey,” Griselda says patronisingly, and Betty finds herself turning red, unable to refute Griselda’s claim, even though it can’t possibly be true. “Just be professional about the interview, okay? He might open up to you more because he knows you, but you can’t let your feelings get in the way of writing the right story, got it?”

Betty nods, because she doesn’t know what else to say.

“I’ll email you the details,” Griselda tells her, effectively dismissing her.

-

The interview Griselda has arranged is to take place at the hotel Archie is staying at. Betty shows up twenty minutes early, nervous as hell. Which is completely ridiculous, because it’s _Archie_ , her best friend since they were four years old, the boy who asked her to marry him when they were in the second grade, who was always there for her no matter what. And now she’s terrified of seeing him again. Maybe it’s because he’s a big shot now. Maybe it’s because they haven’t seen each other in so long. Maybe it’s Griselda’s words ringing in her head, _you’re still in love with him._ Bah. What nonsense.

“Hi, I’m Betty Cooper, I’m supposed to be interviewing Archie Andrews?” Betty says to the concierge.

“Right, just let me check…” the concierge says, turning to his computer. “Ah, yes, here we go. A Ms Broadbent has booked the Lilac Room for you at ten. You’re a little early so you’ll have to wait. Just take a seat on one of the couches and someone will come and get you when Mr Andrews is ready for you.”

Betty almost laughs at Archie being called Mr Andrews. It makes him sound old, like he’s his father or something. She takes a seat on one of the plush couches in the hotel foyer and gets her notes out of her bag. It seems idiotic that she needs a page of notes and questions to be able to talk to someone she used to speak to every day. Rereading the questions now, they all seem lame and uninteresting.

Betty pulls at her skirt uncomfortably, and runs a hand over her hair. The skirt she’s wearing is probably a little shorter than what she’s normally wear to work, and though she’s still dressed professionally, her outfit seems a little much now, though it’s nothing by Veronica’s standards.

She’d called V the night Griselda assigned her the story, after much deliberation. Veronica and Archie were long over even before they finished high school, but it still feels strange to bring him up to Veronica. Veronica had been nothing but supportive, and told Betty to _knock ‘em dead_.

Veronica had apparently already heard _Sunshine Heart_ many times.

“B, it’s number one right now, how could you have missed it?” V had scolded her.

“You know I don’t listen to the radio!” Betty had responded. “Why didn’t you tell me? Or ever bring it up?” Veronica was silent. “Do you still have feelings for Archie?” Betty had asked.

“Me? Betty, we broke up _ten years ago_ , and I wasn’t in love with him then,” Veronica scoffed. Betty’s incomprehensible relief at the statement had overtaken her need to push Veronica further on why she’d never brought up Archie’s singing career.

Now, she wishes she’d questioned her friend further.

“Miss Cooper?”

Betty looks up from her notes. The concierge is standing over her.

“Mr Andrews is ready for you now.”

Betty’s stomach flips. This is it.

The concierge leads Betty to what must be the Lilac Room, and when he opens the door, Betty can see why it’s called that. The walls are a pretty purple, in fact almost everything in the room is. The things that aren’t are either white or gold, and there is a huge vase of lilacs on the windowsill, and another on a table by the door.

Eventually Betty stops gazing around the room and her eyes fall on Archie.

“Miss Cooper,” the concierge says, exiting the room and closing the door behind her. Betty stares at Archie, her heart beating ferociously. He’s the same as when they were eighteen, only he looks even better now. That same red hair and dark eyes. She can’t pick what’s different, only that he’s not exactly the same. He stares back, his mouth hanging open.

“ _Betty_?” he says incredulously. Safe to say he hadn’t known she was coming.

“Archie,” she says, smiling awkwardly. “Surprise?”

“You two know each other?” says a woman Betty figures must be Archie’s publicist. Betty hadn’t noticed her at first, being so focused on Archie.

“Yeah,” Archie clears his throat. “This is Betty Cooper. My best friend from high school.” He throws a glance at his publicist that could only be described as _meaningful_ , though what the meaning is, Betty can’t decipher. Perhaps he’s mentioned her before.

“I thought you must have known it was me that was interviewing you,” Betty says. “Otherwise why do an interview with us?”

“ _Dainty_ has a great reputation,” the publicist shrugs. “No one else was willing to do a full feature article on someone who only has one song out, no matter how big the song is. I’m Amanda, by the way. Archie’s publicist.”

So it was the publicist who arranged the whole thing. Betty should’ve known, but she can’t help but be a little disappointed that it’s just a coincidence after all.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Betty nods. She glances at Archie, who still seems a little shell-shocked. To be fair, she’d had a week to prepare for this. If Archie had waltzed back into her life with no warning she’d probably be just as stunned.

“Should we get started?” Betty suggests. Archie nods sharply, and takes a seat on one of the lilac coloured couches. Betty seats herself opposite him. She pulls a recording device out of her bag, along with her notes.

It feels odd to just jump straight into the interview questions, but it would feel stranger still to try and have a normal conversation while Amanda is hovering in the corner of the room watching them, most likely making sure Archie doesn’t say anything he’s not supposed to.

“So, Archie,” Betty says, trying to calm her nerves. Looking at him, it seems like he may be as nervous as she is. He certainly looks uncomfortable. Betty looks to her first question. She decides to keep this interview as professional as possible. She’s going to interview him like she’s never met him.

“Your first single, _Sunshine Heart,_ has been a huge success. Was that something you were expecting?”

“Not at all,” Archie answers. “I was in LA for a few years making music, trying to get a record deal, but it wasn’t until this song that anyone took any notice. As much as I like the song I feel like I’ve written better songs that haven’t been as well received.”

“And you write all your own songs, is that right?”

Archie gives her a look. “Yeah,” he answers. _You know that_ , he may has well have added.

“A song can have a lot of interpretations, but what is _Sunshine Heart_ about in your mind?” 

Archie thinks for a minute, glancing down before meeting her eyes again to answer her. “It’s about… being in love with someone with a good heart, who you know would never want to hurt you, but knowing they could hurt you anyway.”

Betty can relate to that.

Archie seems to have gotten over his initial shock now, and he seems more relaxed. Betty cannot say the same for herself, but she hopes she’s coming off as unperturbed.

“And you’ve got an album coming out soon, right?”

“That’s right?” Archie nods.

“What can you tell me about it?”

“Well, it should be coming out in a couple of months, we’re just putting the finishing touches on. There are thirteen songs. _Sunshine Heart_ is probably the most pop out of all of them, but I think the fans are really going to love the rest of the album,” Archie says. Betty can’t help but smirk a little when he says _the fans_. He has fans! Archie seems to pick up on her slight smile and he grins in return, and for a moment she feels like they’re Betty and Archie again.

“What’s it called?” she asks, still smiling.

“What?” Archie says, his smile dropping.

“What’s the album called?” Betty prompts. Archie shifts in his seat, all of a sudden looking nervous again. He glances at Amanda. Amanda rolls her eyes.

“That’s, uh…” he stammers. “Top secret.”

Betty raises an eyebrow. “Okay…” she says. “I’ll move on then. You’ve got a show tonight, right?”

“Yes,” Archie says.

“You’ve only got one single out at the moment, are you playing some of the other songs off the album?” Betty asks.

“Um. Yeah,” Archie nods. “And a couple of covers.”

“Could I hear something you’re playing tonight? Or maybe I could come to the show?” Betty suggests.

“Uh, no I don’t think…” Archie glances at Amanda again, who’s nodding. “No.” Archie says, turning back to Betty. “I think the interview is over.”

“But I’ve still got-,” Betty protests, until Amanda cuts her off.

“Sorry, Miss Cooper, Archie is a busy man. You’ll have to make do.”

Betty doesn’t move for a moment, unsure if she should push it or just go. Eventually she stops the recorder and packs everything back into her bag. Amanda watches her silently, and Archie just looks at his feet.

“Thank you for your time,” Betty says as she stands up, and she can’t help but be a little icy. She gets to the door and she suddenly realises she hasn’t congratulated him or told him how much she like the song. He may not be acting like her friend, but then again, she hasn’t really acted like his either.

“Archie?” she says, turning back around. Archie looks up, swallowing. “I really like the song, by the way. I always knew you’d make it. I’m really happy for you.”

Her voice cracks, but she means what she says. And before he can respond, Betty walks out the door, assuming this will be the last time she ever speaks to Archie Andrews.

-

Betty intends to start work on the article as soon as she gets back to the office, but Griselda has other plans for her, and Betty spends the afternoon rewriting her shitty review and then doing menial tasks for Griselda.

She then intends to work on it when she gets home, but thinking about Archie only makes her feel sad. She puts his song on, hoping for inspiration, or at least maybe it will at least lift her mood.  

_You’d protect me  
Even when I don’t think I need protecting_

His voice is like a punch to the stomach, and suddenly she’s really listening to the lyrics. She swallows, slowly lowering herself onto her bed.

_You’d defend me_  
_Even when I think I don’t deserve defending_  
_After all this time_  
_You’re still the only one I trust_

The feelings that she’d been pushing down all day bubble to the surface, and she can’t hold back the tears any longer. She sobs loudly, raggedly, her emotion taking over.

Her friendship with Archie really is over. It was easier before, when they’d just lost touch. She could still pretend she could call him up any time, that he’d still be there for her if she ever needed him. But this is much more final. She’s not sure he’s even the same person he used to be. He’d dismissed her cruelly, without even a goodbye. And despite that, she misses him. She really misses him.

_Cause your heart is made of sunshine_  
_In the morning you’re the sunrise_  
_Opening my eyes to see you there_  
_Your heart will make the plants grow_  
_Kiss my face in a soft glow_  
_Breaking through the clouds, you’re everywhere_

Betty feels like she could have written this song herself, about Archie. It somehow sums up how she feels about him. Or how she _used_ to feel about him. That boy really is made of sunshine, and she knows the whole world is about to fall in love with him, if they haven’t already.

_The planets revolve around you, the brightest star  
But you could burn somebody with your sunshine heart_

Betty listens to the song on repeat until she falls asleep.

It’s dark out when she wakes up, and when she looks at the clock, she realises it’s only just after 9pm. Betty groans and covers her face with her pillow. There’s not a lot of likelihood she’s going to get back to sleep now, so she opens her laptop and tries to write her article on Archie again.

But the thing is, Archie had barely given her anything before he stopped the interview. She could barely swing together a tweet from the interview, let alone a feature article. She feels a surge of anger towards him for doing this to her. He gets to have a successful career, and he can’t even do her the courtesy of one stupid interview?

What was with the evasive answers, and the flat-out denial of her request to see his show tonight? Does he hate her that much? She’s not sure what she could have done to make him hate her in the first place, but she’s positive he doesn’t see her as a friend anymore. If that’s how he treats his friends now, she wouldn’t want to be one anyway.

She does, however, want to write a good story. And if Archie won’t give her one, she’ll just have to find one herself. There’s probably still a good hour left of his performance tonight, at least.

Making her decision, Betty pulls her hair back into a ponytail, slips some shoes and a jacket on, and heads for the subway.

They won’t let her in, of course, without a ticket.

“I’m a friend of Archie’s,” she tries to tell them at the front door.

“That’s nice,” the guy tells her. “Why don’t you ring your friend and see if he’ll let you in.” It’s clear this guy is fairly amused by her claim.

“Come on! The show is nearly over anyway, who even cares?” Betty huffs.

“You’re not getting in without a ticket, honey.”

Betty would have bought a ticket, if there had been anyone still at the box office. Then again, for all she knows the show could be sold out. Time for plan B.

The stage door is unattended, but, as Betty quickly finds out, locked.

“No locked door ever kept me out,” Betty mutters as her fingers locate a bobby pin from her hair. Lock picking is not a skill she has let herself forget, and it only takes her a couple of minutes to get the door open and slip inside.

The hallway just inside the door is empty, much to Betty’s relief. She can hear Archie’s sweet voice through the speakers, filling the hallways and auditorium. It’s not a song she recognises, so she figures it must be a new one from his album. Although, with her limited knowledge of popular music, it could be a cover for all she knows.

Betty doesn’t know the backstage layout of the theatre, but she takes her best guess and heads towards where she thinks the stage is. She passes a few people as she goes, but no one pays any attention to her, all focused on the jobs they’re meant to be doing.

“Great security they have here,” Betty mutters to herself. She can hear the screams of the crowd getting louder, so she figures she’s headed in the right direction. Walking up a small flight of stairs, she suddenly finds herself standing in the wings, and there’s Archie, playing his guitar, and singing to thousands of people, like he always dreamed about.

Betty smiles in spite of herself.

“Hey.”

Betty whips her head around, almost hitting herself in the eye with her ponytail. She’s face to face with a very large man dressed in all black, who could only be part of Archie’s security team. Her stomach sinks. At best she’s getting thrown out of here, at worst he calls the cops.

“Hi,” Betty answers, playing it cool. The security guard frowns, folding his arms intimidatingly.

“I don’t think you’re meant to be back here.”

“Sure I am,” Betty lies.

“Who are you?” he asks suspiciously. Betty hesitates. Tell the truth, or try to concoct a most likely unconvincing lie?

“Betty Cooper,” she says.

“Oh,” the security guard nods. Then he just walks away, leaving Betty staring after him, bewildered. She shakes her head and turns back to the stage, where Archie has just finished a song, and the crowd is screaming.

He laughs into the mic and Betty’s heart lurches at the sound.  So familiar, and yet so distant.

“Alright,” he says. “This song isn’t one of mine, but I think most of you will know it.”

He turns to receive a stool from someone behind him, and as he does, he glances into the wings, locking eyes with Betty. He pauses, but he doesn’t look that surprised. Betty waves, a little sheepishly. Busted. Archie is probably going to kill her. But then he does something unexpected. He smiles. His eyes crinkle up, and he just grins at her, like he’s actually _pleased_ to see her.

He grabs the stool and turns back to the crowd, settling himself on the stool, adjusting the mic in front of him.

“This is Drops of Jupiter,” he says, and he starts to play an acoustic cover.

_Now that she’s back in the atmosphere,_  
_with drops of Jupiter in her hair_  
_She acts like summer, and walks like rain,_  
_reminds me that there’s time to change_

He glances into the wings and winks at her. Betty finds herself singing along with the rest of the crowd. Archie doesn’t turn back to her again until he reaches the bridge, which he sings directly into the wings to her.

_Can you imagine no love, pride, deep fried chicken?_  
_Your best friend always sticking up for you_  
_Even when I know you’re wrong_  
_Could you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance_  
_Five-hour phone conversation_  
_The best soy latte that you’ve ever had_  
_And me?_

He turns back to the audience, and Betty finds herself wiping away a tear she hadn’t realised had appeared. The song finishes, and the crowd is screaming again. Archie stands up, grinning. Stardom really suits him.

“Betty Cooper, everyone,” he yells, much to Betty’s surprise. He holds out and arm in her direction. Does he want her to come on stage??

Someone wearing a headset, walks up beside her.

“Are you Betty?”

Betty nods.

“He wants you on stage.”

Betty nods again, not moving.

“Go!” the woman hisses, and Betty’s feet finally get the message from her brain, and carry her onto the stage, into the blinding light. Archie grabs her hand and pulls her onto the stool he’d been sitting on a moment before.

“Hi Betty,” he says.

“Hi,” she replies. Archie grabs the mic again.

“Everyone, my friend, Betty,” he announces, and Betty gives the crowd a shy wave while they cheer for her. “I’ve got one more song for you tonight, and I’m hoping Betty will let me sing it to her. Would that be okay?” he asks her. Betty nods. She’s a little overwhelmed by the whole turn of events.

Archie gives his guitar a random strum, and the rest of the band starts up, playing _Sunshine Heart_.

_You’d protect me_  
_Even when I don’t think I need protecting_  
_You’d defend me_  
_Even when I think I don’t deserve defending_

It’s a little embarrassing to have him sing to her in front of all these people, and to be honest she hasn’t forgiven him for how he treated her earlier. But she decides to just enjoy the moment, because how often do things like this happen? She’s pretty sure her face is bright red, but she’s grinning from ear to ear.

_Shine down on me_  
_Let me feel it_  
_Your golden light is_  
_All I’m needing_  
_They all adore you_  
_I feel the same too_  
_And if I get burned_  
_I’ll never blame you_

Archie stops singing after the bridge, and holds the mic out to the audience, letting the thousands of people take over, singing the chorus back to him and Betty.

_Cause your heart is made of sunshine_  
_In the morning you’re the sunrise_  
_Opening my eyes to see you there_  
_Your heart will make the plants grow_  
_Kiss my face in a soft glow_  
_Breaking through the clouds, you’re everywhere_  
_The planets revolve around you beneath the stars_  
_But you could burn somebody with your sunshine heart_

Archie puts the mic back to his lips and looks right at her.

_I never would have guessed it at the start  
But you could burn somebody with your sunshine heart._

“Thank you so much New York!” Archie yells, and the lights go out. Archie finds Betty’s hand in the dark and leads her off the stage.

“You aren’t doing on encore?” Betty asks him, once they’re safely in the wings. Archie drops her hand and she flexes her fingers to get rid of his lingering touch.

“I don’t have enough songs to do an encore yet,” Archie says. “Besides, I just played the one they all know, anything after that would be a disappointment.” He falls silent. Betty has a million questions for him. Number one: What Gives?

He seems to sense her thoughts.

“Come with me,” he says. Betty follows him obligingly to his dressing room.

“Archie--,” Betty starts, as soon as the door is closed behind them.

“Betty, I’m sorry,” he says, and Betty stops.

“You are?”

“Yeah, I—the way I spoke to you today was horrible. It’s no excuse, but I was just so surprised to see you,” he says.

“Yeah, I was surprised to be given the assignment,” Betty agrees. She remembers the way she’s snapped at Griselda when she’d found out.

“I’ll bet,” Archie smiles.

“So, will you give me a proper interview?” Betty proposes. Archie grins wider.

“How about we go and get a drink?”

“I’d like that.”

-

“This drink is an apology,” Archie says, handing Betty a mojito. “An apology for being a jerk. The next drink will be an apology for letting us drift so far apart.”

“I’m partly to blame for that too,” Betty concedes.

“Yeah, but it was mostly me.”

“True,” Betty laughs.

“To old friends,” Archie says, clinking his glass with hers.

“To old friends,” Betty agrees. “So, why exactly did we lose touch?”

Archie takes a sip of his rum and coke.

“I guess I just thought it would be better for my career if I severed all ties from Riverdale,” Archie shrugs. “Except for my dad, of course.”

“I guess I get that,” Betty nods. “I haven’t been back in so long. My mom is always telling me to visit… but there are just too many bad memories now.”

“I know what you mean.”

They fall into a silence as they each take a sip from their respective drinks, reliving the memories of their days in Riverdale.

“So, are you seeing anyone?” Betty asks him, trying to lighten the mood again.

“Betty Cooper, are you hitting on me?” Archie grins.

“No, asshole, it’s for the article,” Betty hits him lightly on the shoulder.

“Asshole?” Archie repeats, mock offended. “Did you just call me an asshole?”

“Well, you are.”

“If you’re interviewing me, shouldn’t you be recording?”

“Good point.” Betty gets her phone out and starts recording. Archie grabs the phone and speaks directly into it.

“To all the women… and men… out there wondering, I am in fact single,” Archie says. Betty rolls her eyes.

“What’s the album called?”

“Ha, nice try.”

“Why didn’t you want me to come to the concert?”

“In case no one showed up.”

“ _Archie_ ,” Betty huffs. Archie screws up his face.

“I was worried about what you’d think of the songs,” he finally tells her.

“You thought I wouldn’t like your music?” Betty says incredulously. Archie shrugs, looking embarrassed.

“Something like that.”

“Come on, Archie. You know me better than that. I think you’re amazing,” she tells him, placing her hand over his on the table.

“Thanks,” Archie says. He looks down at where her hand covers his. “I’m really glad you were there tonight. I always imagined…” he trails off.

“What?” Betty prompts.

“I just imagined once that you’d be there in the wings supporting me if I ever made it. I’m glad it got to happen once,” Archie says, shrugging.

“Me too,” Betty smiles. “I hate that I didn’t get to hear more of your other songs. I’d love to hear them.”

“Alright,” Archie agrees, though he looks somewhat dubious about it.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll play you a couple, but we have to go back to my hotel,” Archie says.

“Now who’s hitting on who?” Betty laughs.

-

“Hey, this is random,” Betty says as they ride the elevator up to Archie’s room, “but your security didn’t throw me out when I told them my name. What’s up with that?”

“Oh,” Archie looks embarrassed. “I guess I talk about you sometimes. Everyone knows we used to be friends.”

The elevator stops and the two of them exit onto the tenth floor.

“So they’d do the same for say Jughead or Veronica?”

“Most likely.”

“Too bad if I was just some obsessed stalker,” Betty says. Archie presses his keycard to the door, unlocking it and swinging it open. He flicks the lights on and Betty follows him into the room.

“Sorry about the mess,” Archie says, referring to the clothes haphazardly thrown from his suitcase and strewn across the room.

“Some things never change,” Betty smirks. Archie grabs his guitar case from where it stands up against the beside table and clips it open, extracting his guitar. He pulls up a chair from the small round table in the corner of the room.

“Have a seat,” he suggests as he quickly gives the guitar a tune, and Betty situates herself on the end of his bed, facing him, despite the perfectly good couch a few feet away.

“I’m guessing I’m not allowed to record this?”

Archie considers. “You can record it. As long as no one else hears it until the rest of the album is out.”

“That’s very trusting of you. You know I’m a reporter, right?”

Archie smiles. “I trust you.”

Betty does her best not to look to pleased with this statement. “What are you going to sing for me?” she says quickly.

“What do you want to hear?” Archie asks, fiddling with the strings. Is it Betty’s imagination, or does he seem nervous?

“You’re the one who knows all the songs.”

“Okay, how about I write out the track list and you pick which titles you like the sound of?” he suggests. Betty nods. Archie grabs a piece of paper and a pen from one of the drawers in the dresser and quickly scribbles out the song titles. He hands it to Betty, keeping eye contact as she takes it from him, somewhat gingerly, as if she’s holding the most precious thing in the world.

_She’s in the Rain_  
_Long Love_  
_Teenagers_  
_Until You Hear the Bridge_  
_Sunshine Heart_  
_Lifeboat_  
_Bleed_  
_Someone You Deserve_  
_Make Me Feel So Good_  
_Crossroads_  
_Shout Out_  
_For Life_

Betty scans down the list, trying to picture what each song might be about.

“There are only twelve songs here,” she realises.

“Hmm?” Archie looks up from where he’s still fiddling from his guitar.

“You said the album had thirteen songs, but you’ve only written twelve here.”

“Oh,” Archie looks a little ashamed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. I took the title track off.”

“But I wouldn’t have known it was the title track,” Betty points out.

“You might have guessed.”

Betty looks at him, bemused. “Alright. How many do I get to hear?”

“Let’s say… three.”

Betty looks down the list again. “Let’s start with… _Teenagers_.” It’s probably a little vain, picking that song, but she’s hoping maybe she’ll get a mention. They were best friends when they were teenagers, after all.

“You got it,” Archie nods with a smile, and he starts strumming.

_We were kids once_  
_Acting in love_  
_Like we knew just how it felt_  
_We were frozen_  
_In a bubble_  
_But ice it always melts_  
_It was the first round_  
_I was all in_  
_Up until the cards were dealt_  
_Drink the stars in_  
_They were so close_  
_Gazing from the asteroid belt_

_Didn’t know how good we had it_  
_Didn’t see our future hit_  
_I’m still dreaming about my life_  
_But I guess now this is it_  
_Didn’t feel easy then_  
_But god I miss when_  
_We were teenagers_

It’s the classic, nostalgic, being-young-was-so-great song, and it’s upbeat despite the vaguely melancholic lyrics. Betty doesn’t really find herself specifically in the words, but she can relate a little bit, and she’s sure she would have been on his mind when he wrote it, along with Jughead and Veronica. It’s probably mostly about Veronica, actually, she thinks she can feel the influence of her friend in the lyrics. After all, she was Archie’s first love, right?

“Everyone is going to love that song,” Betty tells Archie honestly. “I almost forgot how talented you are.”

Archie reddens and looks down at his guitar. “Next song?” he asks. Betty looks at the track list again.

“How about _Until You Hear the Bridge_ , that sounds like an interesting title,” Betty decides.

“Okay,” Archie agrees, a little nervously. He clears his throat.

_How long does it take to make a heart forget?_  
_How much dirt do I need to bury my regrets?_  
_When I cannot find a rhyme, unless it is your name_  
_After all this time, I still feel the same_

He doesn’t make eye contact with her as he sings, and Betty swears she can hear the pain in his voice as he reaches the chorus.

_I realised too late what’s always been true_  
_Kinda funny, kinda sad that all my songs are about you_  
_Are you listening?_  
_Is your radio telling you the things I never could?_  
_That you wished I would_  
_It’s your heartbeat in the drumbeat of the verse_  
_And to make it worse_  
_Your laugh is the chorus_  
_Is it too late for us?_  
_If you think this is pathetic, just wait until you hear the bridge_

More and more as he sings, Betty is sure he’s singing about someone he was with a long time ago. It could be someone he met in LA, sure. He’s been there for a while. But according to this song, all the songs are about the same person. And _Teenagers_ is definitely not about someone he met out of high school.

_Wish I’d had the foresight to just fight for it_  
_Selfish, but I hope you hurt just a little bit_  
_And I liked those other girls, don’t get me wrong_  
_But you’re the only one who makes me want to write a song_

Betty is certain it’s about Veronica. Who else could it be? It’s definitely not Miss Grundy or Valerie, and Betty can barely remember any of the girls he dated after Veronica. He was never with any of them very long.

Archie sings the chorus again, and Betty is eagerly awaiting the bridge, and when he reaches it, he really goes for it.

_Every night and every day_  
_Your melody never goes away_  
_In the windchimes, in the doorbell_  
_Know it now, I know it well_  
_I’m the fool who let you go_  
_Years and years and years ago_  
_And yet my heart still beats in time with yours_

His voice trembles a little on the word _yours_ , and he softens as he goes into the chorus again.

_It’s your heartbeat in the drumbeat of the verse_  
_And to make it worse_  
_Your laugh is the chorus_  
_Is it too late for us?_  
_Is it too late for us?_

He finishes, and he doesn’t look up right away. Betty can’t think of a single thing to say that isn’t accusing him of still being in love with Veronica.

“That was nice,” she says eventually. Archie looks up at her, his eyes almost daring her to say something. So it is about Veronica. She’s not sure why that knowledge hurts so much. She doesn’t say anything else.

“Last one?” Archie says, his voice a little croaky.

“Maybe I should just wait for the rest of the album,” Betty says. She doesn’t need to hear another ode to Veronica. She stands up. “It’s pretty late, I should probably go home. I have to work in the morning.”

“Let me call you a taxi,” Archie says, standing up.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just take the subway,” Betty brushes him off.

“Betty, it’s almost one. It’s not safe to take the train by yourself,” he says gently. “You can stay here if you want.”

Betty glances at the bed. It does look very inviting, and Betty isn’t exactly looking forward to the half hour train ride home.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Archie promises.

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Betty bites her lip.

“Of course not.”

Betty nods her agreement, and Archie smiles.

“You want to use the bathroom first?” he asks. Betty nods again and heads into the bathroom. When she comes out, Archie is half undressed, and it’s safe to say he hasn’t dropped his workout routine. She tries not to stare.

“Bathroom’s free,” she tells him, and once he’s shut the door behind him, she slips off her skirt and shoes and pulls her hair free from its ponytail and tucks herself into bed. A few minutes later, Archie returns, turns the light off, and settles himself on the couch. Betty closes her eyes in the silence.

“Betty?” Archie whispers suddenly.

“Yeah?”

“Can we be best friends again?”

Betty smiles to herself in the dark.

“Yeah, Archie.”

“Night, Betty.”

“Night, Arch.”

-

Betty wakes up the next morning to Archie gently shaking her arm.

“What time is it?” she groans.

“Sorry,” Archie whispers. “It’s eight thirty. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to sleep much longer.”

“Shit,” Betty says, sitting upright. There’s no time now for her to get home and change. “Thanks for waking me,” she tells Archie. He’s still shirtless and Betty allows herself a quick glance before she pushes him out of the way, grabbing her skirt and pulling it on. Archie politely looks away.

“Do you need me to do anything? Call you a cab?” Archie offers.

“I’m okay,” Betty says. She slips on her shoes and glances around the room, looking to see if she’s missing anything. Finding nothing, she looks back to Archie. He looks so good with his messed-up hair and his perfectly tones chest. Her heart gives an unwanted lurch. She wishes she didn’t have to leave.

“Keep in touch, okay?” Betty tells him as he walks her to the door.  Betty swallows, pausing at the door.

“Promise,” Archie nods. Betty nods in return. She wonders how long it will be before she sees him again. Before she can stop herself, she plants a kiss on his cheek, then turns away so he can’t see her blush.

“Bye, Archie,” she says, fleeing out the door.

She’s late for work, but only by a few minutes. Still, she’s called into Griselda’s office.

“I take it you haven’t finished the article then?” Griselda says.

“No,” Betty admits, though she’s not sure she should be expected to have it finished only one day after having interviewed the subject.

“I hope sleeping with him got you some good dirt for the article,” Griselda smiles wickedly.

“Excuse me?”

“Betty, you’re in yesterday’s clothes, your hair hasn’t been done and your top buttons are undone,” Griselda grins wider. “I’m not an idiot. I’m also not judging. You see the man you’ve been in love with for ten years, the one that got away. He’s a famous popstar. Who wouldn’t go there? I just hope you did your job too.”

“I didn’t sleep with him,” Betty says. “I just stayed at his hotel.”

“Disappointing,” Griselda sighs. “How’s the article coming along then?”

“I think it’s going to be good,” Betty says.

“Alright, well good luck to you then. Get out of my office!”

-

“TGIF, amiright?” Veronica says as she sweeps into the office.

“Is it lunch time already?” Betty says, checking the time. She’s been working on the article about Archie all morning.

“Sure is, babe. There’s this place down the road I’m dying to try. Are you ready to take a break?” Veronica asks.

“Yeah, just let me finish up this thought,” Betty says. She quickly taps out the rest of the sentence, hits save and grabs her handbag, following Veronica to the elevator.

“Okay, I didn’t want to say anything in front of all your work peeps, but did you have sex last night?” Veronica asks, as soon as the elevator doors shut.

“No! Oh my god, why does everyone think that?” Betty moans.

“Because you clearly haven’t been home since yesterday. And since when does Betty Cooper wear her hair out to work?” Veronica points out.

Betty chews her lip, knowing she’s going to tell Veronica everything, but not sure how her friend is going to take it. The elevator stops at the ground floor and the two girls exit, Veronica leading the way to the restaurant she wants to eat at.

“I interviewed Archie yesterday,” she starts.

“ _You had sex with Archie?!_ ” Veronica practically squeals in excitement.

“We didn’t have sex!” Betty denies vehemently, looking around to see if anyone heard. “The interview went badly because he was weirded out at seeing me, so I snuck into his concert last night. He apologised and we went out for a drink, and then we went back to his hotel so he could play me some of the songs off his album.”

“Ooh, romantic,” Veronica gushes.

“It wasn’t like that,” Betty says.

“It sounds like it was like that.”

“It was for work.”

“Uh huh,” Veronica says, clearly not believing it for a second.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s still in love with you.”

Veronica laughs loudly. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“He didn’t say that, did he?” Veronica frowns.

“No, but his songs. They’re clearly all about the same person. Someone he fell in love with a long time ago,” Betty explains. Veronica looks at her like she’s the dumbest person on the planet.

“Betty. Honey,” she shakes her head patronisingly. “You’d have to blind not to see that _Sunshine Heart_ is about you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Betty knows Veronica’s claim is completely unfounded, but it makes her stomach turn over just the same.

“Betty, that boy has been in love with you since he was twelve years old. He may not have known it then, but I’m betting he sure as hell knows it now,” Veronica says.

“You didn’t even know him when we were twelve,” Betty points out.

“I didn’t have to.”

Betty shakes her head, and Veronica turns to pull open the door to the restaurant. They’re led to a table, and Betty’s phone pings as they sit down. Her heartrate picks up when she sees Archie’s name.

**_Archie:  
What are you doing for your lunch hour?_ **

Betty bites her cheek to keep from smiling too wide, but Veronica catches it anyway.

“Is that from him?”

Betty nods, blushing.

“God, what is it, a sext?”

“No! He’s just asking what I’m doing.”

“And _that_ made your face do that? Wow, Betty. You might deny that he’s in love with you, but please don’t try to deny that you’re in love with him.”

Betty grimaces. She wants to deny it.

“Shut up,” she says instead, turning back to her message.

**_Betty:  
I’m with Veronica_ **

**_Archie:  
Oh. Do you want to meet up after work?_ **

**_Betty:  
Don’t you have a gig or something?_ **

**_Archie:  
Nope. I’m all yours._ **

Betty finds it surprising that he hadn’t suggested she bring Veronica along. She’s still pretty sure the songs are about Ronnie. And even if Veronica happened to be right, and Archie has been writing about Betty all these years, it’s not like they could actually _be_ together. He lives in LA. And Betty knows all too well from her break up with Jughead that she’s not great with long distance.

Veronica studies Betty as Betty puts her phone down.

“You know, I’d be happy for you two if you got together,” Veronica says. “It almost feels like you guys were inevitable. You know, if I hadn’t shown up to mess things up.”

“That wasn’t you, Ronnie. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to. And maybe it was for the best,” Betty shrugs.

“But maybe this is your second chance.”

“I’m happy just to be his friend again,” Betty says, and it’s true. But she also wouldn’t mind being more than just his friend, either.

-

Betty meets Archie at a bar downtown, after going home after work to shower and change. She dresses up a little, or maybe a lot, and she ignores the messages from Veronica encouraging her to _get it girl._

“Hey,” Archie says, standing up from the barstool when he sees Betty walk into the bar. “You look great,” he tells her.

“Thanks,” Betty smiles. “So do you.”

Archie ducks his head with a bashful smile. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure,” Betty agrees. She probably shouldn’t feel this nervous around him. Her heart probably shouldn’t be thumping this hard at the sight of him. She’s not sure how it’s possible that after all this time, she still loves him so much, even when she hasn’t seen him in almost eight years.

He buys her a drink and they find a table in the corner of the room to sit and chat.

“So, Betty Cooper,” Archie says, taking a sip from his drink. “I feel like we’ve talked about me far too much, and now it’s your turn to tell me what you’ve been doing all this time.”

“Well, I went to college, obviously, and then I got this job, and that’s about it,” Betty summarises.

“How’s the job?” Archie asks. Betty shrugs.

“It’s fine,” she says. “I get to write, so that’s good.”

“But you don’t really want to be writing about random musicians,” Archie laughs. “I can’t imagine you would be satisfied with that.”

“You’re right about that,” Betty agrees. “It would be great to be able to write and travel.”

“I want to travel too. Hopefully I’ll get to do a tour overseas,” Archie says. “If the rest of the world likes my music the way America does.”

“I have no doubt they will,” Betty assures him. “When do you have to go back to LA?” Betty asks, the question she doesn’t really want to know the answer to. Now that she has him back in her life, she’s not ready to let him go so quickly.

“I’m not going back,” Archie says.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m staying in New York,” he says. “I mean, I’ll have to travel to perform and everything, but I want to live in New York. It’s what I always wanted when I was a teenager.”

Betty’s heart swells and she can’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. He’s _staying_.

“That’s great,” she says. But there’s one other thing she needs to know, no matter the answer. “Archie?” she says, her smile dropping.

“What is it?” he asks, concerned.

“I have to ask…” she swallows. “Are you still in love with Veronica?”

Archie stares at her.

“Veronica?”

Betty nods.

“What gave you that idea?”

“The songs,” Betty says. “It seemed like you were singing about someone from your past. And there was that one lyric where you say all your songs are about the same person _,_ so I thought… maybe…” she trails off. Archie shakes his head slowly, like he’s processing.

“Betty…” he starts, but he’s interrupted by a young woman tapping on his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” the girl says, barely able to contain her excitement. “Are you Archie Andrews?”

Archie smiles at the girl. “That’s me,” he says.

“Could we get a photo?” she asks, gesturing to another girl beside her, clearly her sister.

“Of course,” Archie obliges.

“Maybe your friend could take it?” the girl suggests. Archie looks to Betty apologetically.

“No problem,” Betty says, taking the girl’s phone from her as Archie stands up, and the two girls stand on either side of him. Betty snaps a few pictures and hands the phone back.

“Thank you so much!” the girl gushes. “Would you play something? We asked the guy behind the bar and he said it was fine. They’ve got all the equipment set up for this band later.”

“I don’t have my guitar,” Archie starts to decline, but the girls have already thought of everything.

“The band is already here and they say you can use on of theirs!”

“Uhh…” Archie looks to Betty and she shrugs. “Okay, sure.” He agrees. The girls squeal and run off to get the other guys guitar.

“Betty,” Archie says, somewhat urgently. He licks his lips. “I’m not in love with Veronica. Just… just watch the performance, will you?” he asks.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Betty promises. Archie nods and heads towards the small stage, now lit up. One of the random girls hands him a guitar and he plugs it in and sits on a stool in front of the microphone.

“Testing,” he says into the mic, his voice filling the room. “Sorry to interrupt your night, everyone. I’m Archie Andrews,” – there are a couple of cheers – “thanks,” he laughs. “I’ve been asked to play a song, so I’m going to do just that. This song I wrote for my best friend, and it’s actually the title track on my album, which is hopefully going to be out in a few months. It’s called _Girl Next Door._ ” He finds Betty’s eyes in the crowd. Her heart is racing. “So, you can print that, Betty.”

He closes his eyes and strums.

_Silhouette in a window_  
_You smile, and I just know_  
_Like I’ve never ever known before_  
_Flicker in a dark room_  
_I say, I’ll be there soon_  
_You’ll be there, waiting at the door_

_Let me sing to you through your open window_  
_I can see you dancing in the lamp light_  
_Let me be the one to make you feel all better_  
_I can see you crying just after midnight_  
_And the girl next door isn’t as perfect as they want her to be_  
_But she’s perfect for me_

_I know I’m a cliché_  
_It’s true what they all say_  
_Sometimes you just wake up and finally see_  
_I know I’m just a fool_  
_But when I walk you home from school_  
_I’m dreaming of a life of you and me_

Betty finds herself welling up as she listens, knowing that he wrote this song for her. That maybe he wrote all his songs for her. Archie launches into the chorus again, and she finds herself wondering when he wrote this. Eight years ago? Has he loved her that long?

_I knock and she answers_  
_Do you believe in second chances?_  
_I swear I have never been so sure_  
_Sorrow or glory_  
_This is our love story_  
_So tell me you won’t close the door_

Archie finishes the song, and the bar patrons cheer for him, even the ones who probably have no idea who he is.

“Thanks guys,” Archie smiles. “I’ll let you be now.” He hands the guitar back to its owner and makes his way over to Betty, looking like a dream. Betty stands as he reaches her.

“Nice song,” she manages.

“Thanks,” Archie nods. He studies her, waiting for her reaction.

“It’s about me, huh?”

“They’re all about you, Betty,” he says. Betty feels her heart flutter.

“When did you write it?” Betty asks. Archie screws up his face.

“Probably ten years ago now,” Archie shrugs. “Remember that brief spell where you and Jughead broke up?”

“Which one?” Betty laughs.

“Veronica and I were broken up too. And I kind of realised then that I was in love with you,” he says. “So I wrote this song, and I was going to sing it to you, but then you and Jughead got back together. And then you guys stayed together for another three years, but I couldn’t do anything to get over you. It was torture, Betty. I knew it was my fault, that I missed my chance with you. So I kind of disappeared from your life. I’m sorry about that.”

“And what about now?” Betty asks.

“Well, I’ve continued writing songs for the past ten years. And I’m about to release an album on which pretty much every song is about you. I didn’t want to tell you what the album was called because I wasn’t ready for you to know yet,” he admits “I thought it might freak you out. Does it freak you out?”

Betty shakes her head. She reaches for him, unable to hold herself back any longer, and pulls him in to kiss him. He kisses her back, gently, and then more desperate, until he has to pull away.

“I’ve been dreaming about that for a long time,” he says, slightly breathless, his pupils blown wide.

“Me too,” Betty laughs, rubbing her bottom lip with her thumb.

“I love you, Betty Cooper,” he tells her, as if she hadn’t already figured it out. But it’s nice to hear anyway.

“I love you too, Archie Andrews,” she beams.

“Do you want another drink?” he asks, swallowing, still gazing at her lips.

“Or we could just go back to your hotel,” Betty suggests.

“Your idea is better,” Archie agrees with a short laugh. He takes her hand, leading her from the bar.

“Are you going to put this in your article?” he asks.

“And give Griselda the satisfaction? Hell no.”

Archie laughs and gives her hand a squeeze that makes her heart miss a beat.

“So I get to hear the rest of the album now, right?” Betty says teasingly.

“Anything you want,” he tells her.


End file.
